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Upstairs, Downstairs
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS was a UK television period drama that ran from 1971-1975 and again from 2010-2012. The original incarnation was an ITV production, while the 2010 continuation was a BBC production. It was shown in the United States on PBS as a mainstay of the anthology series, Masterpiece Theater. Later, the 2010 continuation was also shown under the show's successor, Masterpiece Classics. again on PBS. The show focused on the lives of the aristocratic Bellamy family (later the Holland family) and the servants who lived and worked at 165 Eaton Place in London's fashionable Belgravia area. The two shows span the time between the turn of the 20th Century through just before World War II. Starring in both incarnations of the show was actress Jean Marsh who played Rose Buck. Rose was at first the head house parlourmaid who later became a lady's maid. She later opened a domestic servant agency in Belgravia, and was later brought back as the senior servant in the Holland household. The series was originally slated to be a comedy called Behind the Green Baize Door, starring Jean Marsh and her close friend Eileen Atkins as two maids serving a family in a country house; but the comedic aspects were dropped (although there were some instances of light comedy in many episodes) and, after several title changes and tweaks, it became the show that is remembered to this day. Dame Eileen Atkins was originally slated to play the role of Sarah, the other house parlourmaid, but wasn't able to, due to her portraying Queen Victoria in a stage play. As such, Pauline Collins took on the role of Sarah. Atkins later joined the continuation for the first season, playing Lady Maud Holland, the mother of the later owner of 165 Eaton Place. The Bellamys, the original residents of 165 Eaton Place, were headed by Richard Bellamy (David Langton), a Conservative member of Parliament, who later became a member of the House of Lords and his wife, Lady Marjorie Bellamy (Rachel Gurney), whose parents, Lord and Lady Southwold, were very powerful members of the Tory party (Lord Southwold owned the whole area of Eaton Place, including 165). Lady Mabel Southwold was played by veteran actress Cathleen Nesbitt. After Lady Marjorie's death on the Titanic, Richard, after a respectable time of mourning, married a war widow named Virginia Hamilton (Hannah Gordon) and became stepfather to her two younger children, Alice and William, by her first marriage (Virginia had an older son, Michael, who had been killed in WW I). Richard and Marjorie had two children of their own, James (Simon Williams), an impetuous man who had a eye for women who were not from his status; and Elizabeth (Nicola Pagett), his younger sister, who was very rebellious. (Nicola never returned to the series after the second series, due to her not being included in a proposed Upstairs, Downstairs movie, which was never filmed). Elizabeth's place in the house was taken by Miss Georgina Worsley (Lesley-Anne Down) who was the niece of Richard's first wife, Lady Marjorie (Georgina's mother, Marian, married Lord Hugo Southwold, Marjorie's brother), and lived there through the remainder of the series, until she was married in the final episode to Lord Robert, the Marquis of Stockbridge (Anthony Andrews). Downstairs originally comprised of Angus Hudson (Gordon Jackson), the butler; Kate Bridges (Angela Baddeley), the cook; Emily (Evin Crowley), the scullery maid; Alfred (George Innes), the footman; Miss Roberts (Patsy Smart), the Lady's Maid; Mr. Pearce (Brian Osborne), the original chauffeur/coachman; and the house maids Sarah and Rose. Sarah later became the nursery maid until she married Pearce's successor, a man named Thomas Watkins (he had once served as man servant to Elizabeth's first husband) and left service altogether. Emily committed suicide during the first season over a tragic love affair, and she was subsequently replaced by Ruby Finch (Jenny Tomasin), as kitchen maid; Miss Roberts survived the sinking of the Titanic, but was ravaged with grief over the death of Lady Marjorie that she was eventually placed in an asylum. (Her role as Lady's maid was taken over by Rose) Daisy (Jacqueline Tong) became under-house parlourmaid long after Sarah left and was later made head house parlourmaid; Edward (Christopher Beeny) became the new footman after Alfred left the house with his lover, a German baron who was revealed to be a spy (the latter later returned and terrorized the household until he was arrested for murdering his former employer and was hanged). As time wore on, Daisy and Edward fell in love and were subsequently married. Elizabeth was orignally married to a man named Lawrence Kirbridge, but had a child with his much-older publisher, bringing more scandal to the family. Kirbridge (who was implied to be gay) was named the father, was sent away to Europe and was never spoken of again. The child was named Lucy Kirbridge. She later had an unhappy affair with an Armenian named Julius Karekin, who only used her to get into high society and then threw her away (after giving her the deed to her house), until she found lasting happiness with an American lawyer named Dana Wallace, and she and Lucy emigrated from London to New York, where they lived for the rest of the series. Another recurring role was that of Lady Prudence Fairfax (Joan Benham), a frivolous and very gossipy, but caring and compassionate woman who was Lady Marjorie's best friend. After her friend's death, she remained a close family friend. The widowed Prudence (who had a married daughter named Agatha) was seen through all five series of the show, although she did not appear in every episode. She maintained a friendship with Richard, even though he remarried Virginia. The original series ended when James committed suicide after losing his fortune in the Stock Crash of 1929, and the house was sold. Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Bridges were married, and moved to Hastings to run a guest house, taking Ruby with them; Edward and Daisy were hired as butler and housemaid for Lord and Lady Stockbridge; Rose was retained by Lord and Lady Bellamy as their lady's maid and nanny to the children; and the series ended when Rose walked through the now empty halls and rooms of 165 and remembering all the events that happened. The continuation began when Rose opened an agency for hiring domestic servants, after retiring from service, and she met Lady Agnes Holland (Keeley Hawes), who was, with her husband Sir Hallam Holland, a diplomat for the Foreign Office, moving into 165 Eaton Place (Hallam had inherited the house), and were intent on making it a showplace once again. Rose was convinced to be brought back into service as the senior servant; along with a new crew of servants, consisting mainly of Clarice Thackeray (Anne Reid), the cook; Warwick Pritchard (Adrian Scarborough), the butler, who was a recovering alcoholic; Rachel Perlmutter (Helen Bradbury) the house parlourmaid, who after her death from asthma, her child, Lotte was taken in by Lord Hallam and Lady Agnes; Amanjit Singh (Art Malik), Maud, Lady Holland's secretary; Harry Spargo (Neil Jackson), the chauffeur; his wife, Beryl (Laura Haddock), the house-parlourmaid among others. Also living upstairs was Maud, Lady Holland (Eileen Atkins), Sir Hallam's mother who caused a lot of friction between herself and Lady Agnes; Lady Holland's younger half-sister, Blanche (Alex Kingston) who moved in after Maud's death and got along a lot better with Lady Agnes; Lady Persephone Towyn (Claire Foy) Lady Agnes's duplicitous sister, who was a fascist, had an affair with her brother in-law and then committed suicide after shooting Beryl on the eve of her marriage to Harry; Pamela Holland (Sarah Gordy), Hallam's sister who has down's syndrome; as well as Hallam's friend, the Duke of Kent (Blake Ritson). While the original ran for five seasons; the continuation only ran for two seasons, mainly due to Jean Marsh's health issues. The continuation mainly didn't last due to the fact that Rose was reduced to two cameos in the second season and was considered to be the only tangible connection to both incarnations of the show. Much of the second season dealt with the struggles of the residents, both above and below stairs, as war was looming. Agnes, dealing with having given birth to her second child, Veronica; dealing with her scheming sister, and trying to do the best she could. She had a good support from her husband's aunt, Blanche. She was also dealing with the fallout from discovering that Persephone had an affair with Hallam (and the fact that she was a Nazi spy), and that caused husband and wife to separate, with the children going with her family in Wales, while she and Blanche helped out in London during the war. When Persephone's duplicity was revealed, she accidentally shot Beryl with Hallam's service revolver, and then she threw herself off the landing committing suicide. Meanwhile, downstairs, the two senior members of the staff, Mr. Pritchard and Mrs. Thackeray were constantly arguing about who was in charge, in lieu of Rose, who was in a sanitorium. Eunice McCabe (Ami Metcalfe) was also included as at first originally strictly a kitchen maid, but then was named a lady's maid when Rose took ill, then later dividing her time between the kitchen and the nursery. She was a bit stupid at times, but she was quite lovable. Johnny Proud went into the millitary, and he had fallen for the sweet Eunice. The series ended when Mr. Pritchard heard the air raid sirens and ushered Lady Agnes and Blanche into the shelter. An Americanized version of the show, called Beacon Hill, ran for one season in 1975. It was very similar in format as the upper class family, the Lassiters, lived upstairs; while the servants remained belowstairs. The differences were that the show was set in Boston instead of London; the area was Louisburg Square instead of Eaton Place in Belgravia, and the families, both above and below stairs, were of Irish ancestry. Several members of the show went on to fame in later roles. These include Lesley-Anne Down, who played Georgina. She later played Olivia Richards on Sunset Beach; and became best known as Jacqueline Marone Knight on the Bold and the Beautiful. Jean Marsh (Rose) also played a role on the TV adaptation of the movie 9 to 5, playing troublesome administrative assistant Roz Keith. Anthony Andrews (Lord Stockbridge) played in the series, Brideshead Revisited; and Gordon Jackson (Mr. Hudson) continued to work in TV until his death.